That Little Red String
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Local rich kid Misako is stubborn and full of sass. The First Spinjitzu Master finds these traits valuable and helps her train to become a kunoichi. But her training is taken with his two sons, Garmadon and Wu. Let's just face it, they're all doomed by canon any way. WIP, main Misako/Garmadon, minor Misako/Wu
1. A Letter in the Wind

Misako had found that walking away from a crime was less conspicuous than running away. And for the most part, it worked.

Misako Barr was a rich kid. She was that kind of rich kid you'd imagine who'd be spoiled beyond belief because their family had more money than what they knew what to do with. And yet, although she had everything she could ever want, the girl would use her five-finger discount on anything that sat on a pedestal in the open air. Or store shelf. Or cart. Or... anything that was unattended to begin with. But to say she was a klepto would have been a stretch. Quite naturally, she just wanted attention. No one said that being a rich kid was easy.

After walking a good distance away from her recent heist (a simple apple off a cart), Misako went into an alleyway and found a fire escape. She made the descent up the fire escape to get to the roof. From that high, she could see the tiny-ish beginnings of Ninjago City. The whole of it all made her appreciative and not so alone. Right now, they were almost finished building the museum. Some where deep in her heart, Misako wanted to help them add contributions. Archeology was her secret passion. Old stuff seemed more interesting than the new stuff her parents were always buying her.

The breeze was strong on top of the roof. It also caused a letter that had been drifting in the wind to smack her right in the face. Irritated at first, Misako peeled the letter off of her face and was about to let the wind take it away again, but something on it caught her attention. It had her name on it. Deciding to be curious, Misako opened the letter and read its contents.

"_Misako, yes, I know you. I do not intend to scare you as I write this. But I have been watching you, and I am impressed. If I may, your street smarts and general cleverness has astonished me, and I would like for you to visit me in the Monastery of Spinjitzu. If you have proven yourself at all to me, it is that you have the makings of a kunoichi. With these skills, I believe that you should further develop your skills with my sons and I. I will train you personally. I will see you soon, perhaps even this evening if I am right about your more... stubborn attributes."_

Misako looked at the letter again, then let it fly off in the wind again. But then she realized something, the crazy letter sender was right. She would see him soon. She was nearly running across the rooftops to get the the Monastery any way...


	2. Observations

Misako looked at the door of the Monastery of Spinjitzu with little interest or dislike. Why not? It's not like her parents were going to miss her or anything. With a shrug, Misako opened up the Monastery's doors and right there waiting for her was the First Spinjitzu Master.

"Hello Misako," he said friendly enough, "My name is Kaishi, welcome to my home... and yours soon enough."

Misako found herself giving him a half smile and a respectful bow.

"I am... honored," she told him, "To have been welcomed into the home of the First Spinjitzu Master."

"Nonsense!" Kaishi told her. "It is an honor to have you. Come, we will begin your training right away."

Misako, although she began to think some rather rude things, bowed respectfully once more and followed the Master into the Monastery.

Not even five minutes later, she was making out with the floor in the worst possible way.

Misako had more bruises on her from that dumb training dummy than what she had earned from getting smacked for something dumb she had done. She was bleeding too, some of the bruises had opened up, and her lip had started to bleed after she ran into a barrier that fell from the sky. And yet, she didn't feel a thing, likely to the extreme amount of adrenaline going through her body. She was determined. She had never been this determined before... at all. It was odd, but it felt good too.

Meanwhile, hidden in a shadow, were two young men not that much older than Misako. The younger one of the two had light blonde hair and looked very curious. The older looked a lot more cynical, he had dark brown hair, but his skin was abnormally pale and his eyes were... red.

"Why is Father just sitting there, sipping his tea, while she exhausts herself?" the youngest asked.

"He's testing her." the oldest said, his voice low with a dark undertone to it. "Just because she can do well on the street doesn't mean she's good in the arena."

The younger brother looked at the oldest.

"You make it seem like you don't want her here." he remarked, hints of being insulted held in his voice.

"I don't." the older said bluntly. "She's just another chew toy. Once Father breaks her down, she'll go back to her high life. Just watch."

"I'd like to think you're wrong brother." the youngest said, not trying to be defiant but was also emphasizing a point. The oldest rolled his eyes and started to leave.

"I need to lie down." he mumbled. "Don't wait up."

The youngest nodded to his brother as he left, then returned to watching the girl get perfectly battered by the training dummies. Maybe his brother was right, she wouldn't make it that long. But there was still something about her that made the younger brother know that she was going to make it. The younger brother turned to leave too.

Hope. We always have hope.


	3. Dinner with Wu

Misako yawned as she flopped herself on her bed. Kaishi had given her a room all her own. It was barely decorated, but she figured she could do some rearranging when she got the chance. Now, as the adrenaline had worn off, Misako's whole body ached and whined in pain. Her face had smacked the training arena floor more times that day than she had kissed any boy in her entire lifetime. Not that it was a high count to begin with, but it was something she could base it off of if anyone should ask.

At the door, there had been a soft knock. Misako groaned, but said;

"Come in!"

The door slowly opened and the youngest of Kaishi's sons entered her room.

"Good evening Miss Misako." the young man said honorably. Misako sat up and looked at him.

"You're Woo, right?"

"Wu." the young man corrected.

"Same thing." Misako said with an eye roll. This went undetected to the young man.

"I hope you had a good day today, I wanted to let you know that dinner will be ready soon. Father wanted to know if you wanted it sent to you, considering you are still getting used to getting around here."

"That's an option?" Misako asked, feeling relieved and hopeful. Her body was aching in pain so badly, she was surprised she had been able to sit up for so long.

"For today, at least." Wu agreed.

"Thank you so much." Misako graciously thanked him. "If your father trains you like that all day, I'm surprised you're still alive right now."

Wu laughed a little.

"Maybe I just got used to it." he suggested.

"Bless you." Misako told him with wide eyes as he started to leave. Wu laughed again as he went out the door.

After he left, Misako laid back down and looked at the ceiling. She must have gone asleep because barely five minutes later, there was another knock at the door as Wu came in with a tray of food. Misako groggily sat up again at the head of the bed as Wu put the tray in the middle. For moment, Misako thought she had saw double.

"There are two different plates here." she observed.

"I didn't think you would like eating dinner alone, especially since it's your first night here." Wu said with a sweet smile, taking the initiative to sit at the foot of the bed. Misako looked at him like he was crazy. Or maybe it was because she was half asleep.

"You're not going to sleep in here too, are you?" Misako asked, genuinely curious. For a moment, Wu paused, not quite sure how to answer. With no answer coming out in fear of unintended awkwardness, Misako changed the subject.

"This looks good." she said, reaching for a plate. "What is it?"

Wu smiled a little as he told her as they began to eat.


	4. Lessons

Whoever said that things will go better the second day than the first was woefully mistaken. Today was slightly different, though, today Misako got to watch two boys spar against each other. Then she got to spar with one of them. Her first choice? Wu, who she took down rather quickly.

"Good." Kaishi nodded from the sidelines. "Now that you are warmed up, you can try sparing with Garmadon."

Misako looked over at the Spinjitzu Master's oldest child. With not much grace or dignity, Garmadon took off the robe around his torso and walked over to the sparing arena. For a moment, Misako took a moment to appreciate the distinguished abs on the pale skinned male.

"Bad form..." Wu whispered under his breath from the sidelines, "Show off..."

"You shouldn't wear your glasses in the arena," Garmadon told Misako, who was already in her sparing stance. "They could fall and break, then you won't be able to see me put you to shame."

"Don't worry too much dear, it's only a minor correction. So when I whip your pretty little abs into flab again, it will be in 20/20." Misako sneered at him.

"Fair enough." Garmadon shrugged as Kaishi made the signal for the two to begin sparing.

Unlike the fight with Wu, Garmadon was a bit more calculating in where he placed his punches. Wu had better precision though, but was too slow to really be effective. With Garmadon, Misako actually felt like she had met her match.

After an hour of dueling, Kaishi ended the match in a draw. The two panted with exhaustion and a sense of relief.

"Not bad..." Garmadon hissed, "For a spoiled rich girl."

Misako just looked at him, too exhausted to say anything back. Her glasses slowly slid down her face from the sweat on her face, but she didn't care. She hated him.

. . .

"What is his issue?" Misako thundered to Wu. "'Spoiled rich girl'?! How does he even know that?"

"We're training to be ninjas." Wu told her bluntly.

Misako opened her mouth to insert an opinion, but closed it again.

"Regardless," Misako finally said, "What is his issue?"

Wu shifted uncomfortably. Misako looked at him.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked.

For a moment, Wu weighed his options. Misako just kept looking at him, waiting for him to decide whatever he was going to decide.

"He can't really help it." Wu finally said. Misako laughed in a rather unkind way.

"Have you ever heard of the Great Devourer?" Wu then asked, doing all in his power to stay calm. Misako instantly shut her mouth.

"You mean that snake beast they finally hid away in that ancient Serpentine city five years ago?" Misako asked. Wu nodded.

"When my brother and I were younger, I let him be bit by the Great Devourer. The Great Devourer's venom got into Garmadon's bloodstream; condensed evil now flows through my brother's veins. He can't help it, it is just in him to be rude or outlandish."

"It's still not an excuse." Misako huffed, folding her arms. "We all choose to do what we feel is right and wrong. He still has a will, doesn't he? He can still make decisions for himself."

"It is still hard for him." Wu defended. "Be careful."

Misako sneered, but said nothing else.


	5. Dinner Disaster

At dinner, Misako sat across from Garmadon. She stared at him with intent as she pushed her food from side to side with her fork. Finally, Garmadon stopped eating and put his fork down.

"Why are you looking at me?" he asked her, a sense of irritation peppered in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Misako said in fake apology, "I was distracted."

"By what?" Garmadon asked irritably.

"You don't remember?" Misako asked, pretending innocence.

"Remember what?" Garmadon asked, starting to get mad.

"You seduced me." Misako told him, as if the answer of obvious.

The moment those words escaped her lips, near pandemonium broke lose in that monastery dining room. Wu choked on what he had been eating and managed to spit it out again to look at his father. Wasn't he going to stop them?! Quite naturally, the old man wanted to see where this was going before taking any immediate action.

Garmadon looked at Misako. His slow blinking only made her grin like a maniac.

"If you feel as if I attracted you in some way," Garmadon started to say, "Then maybe you should consider that I don't date."

This did not unwaver Misako's spirit.

"I said nothing about dating." she told him. "But I know a rather fabulous place where I can make you so mad it will be hilarious."

Garmadon looked at her with a hard look.

"Karaoke." Misako told him, as if it would change his mind. Garmadon continued to look at her, but continued to eat dinner without an answer. Misako grinned and tipped her glass to him.

"Are you insane?!" Wu asked her later on that night.

"What are you talking about?" Misako asked him, "That was amusing. Did you _see_ his face?!"

"I was a little worried about my own to be quite honest." Wu told her.

"You can come too, you know." Misako then said, as if she didn't hear him.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Wu said defensively.

"I'm not." Misako told him. Wu looked at her. She was being honest, and it amused Wu a little.

"When are you going?" Wu then asked.

"Sunday, when we have off." she told him. Wu nodded.

"Thank you." he said. Misako smiled kindly. It was a smile Wu found he enjoyed seeing on her face, and it became something he longed for.


End file.
